Humidifier



April 7, 1942,

J. WOOLLEY HUMIDIFIER Filed June 23, 1959 INVENTOR.

Arr ORNEYJI Patented Apr. 7, 1942 ED STATES ATEN r OFFICE HUMIDIFIERWilliam J. Woolley, Chicago, Ill. Application June 23, 1939, Serial No.280,769

2 Claims.

This invention relates in general to automatic humidifiers, and moreparticularly to such devices which are adapted for use in hot airfurnaces, such as that disclosed in my application Serial No. 158,962,filed August 13, 1-937, and issued April 18, 1939, as Patent No.2,155,070,

A principal object of the invention is the pro-- vision in an automatichumidifier, having a v water evaporation pan and a separate automaticwater feeding unit, of improved means for adjustably mounting the latteron the pan.

Another important object of the invention is the provision in anautomatic humidifier of means for supplying water thereto andmaintaining the volume of water substantially constant, the latter meansbeing adjustable to compensate for variations in the pressure of thewater supplied thereto.

A further important object of the invention is' the provision of anautomatic humidifier for hot air furnaces having adjustable means forvarying the evaporation surface area of water, and separate meansadjustable to maintain the water to be evaporated at a substantiallyconstant level. 1

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentas it is better under-' stood from the following description, .which,when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, discloses apreferred embodiment thereof.

In the drawing,

Figure l is a side elevational view of an automatic humidifier embodyingthe features of the it is adapted to be mounted within the usual.

dome or hood portion of a hot air furnace of any desired type in themanner indicated in my prior U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,155,070, issuedApril 18, 1939.

The water pan it is preferably stamped from sheet bronze, and isprovided with front and rear end plates 2i and 22, respectively, whichare made of brass or any other desired material, and are secured to thebody portion of the pan in any suitable manner. A pair of curved;longitudinally disposed wing members 29 are hingedly secured to the mainbody portion of the pan M to facilitate swinging or folding thereof toan inner or -inoperative position (not shown) in which position thewings 29 are disposed within the pan l4; Such pivotal mounting of thewings 29 upon the pan l i thus permits insertion and withdrawal of thepan into and out of the hood of the furnace through a suitable aperture'prov vided therein which is of only slightly greater dimensions thanthe outer dimensions of the pan. In their normal or outer position, asshown in the drawing, the wings 29 extend laterally from the pan M inspaced relationship thereto to guide the upwardly flowing currents ofwarm air generated by the furnace inwardly and downwardly into contactwith the surface of the water in the pan I4.

When the pan I4 is mounted in the'hood of the furnace, the aperturethrough which it is insertcd is sealed or closed off by a lower bonnetplate 3| and an upper bonnet hood member 32. The bonnet plate 3| issubstantially U-shaped so as to closely conform to the outer surface ofthe pan M adjacentthe junction between the forward end 2| thereof andthe main body portion of the pan. The upper leg portions of the bonnetplate M are provided with suitable slots through which bolts or otherdesired holding means are adapted to extend to secure the plate to theside wall of the furnace hood. The bonnet hood 32 is provided with acentrally disposed,

outwardly extending dome portion 35 which is adapted to engage the upperedge of the end wall 2| of the pan M. The bonn'et hood 32 is alsoprovided with a pair of downwardly extending leg portions 36 which arebent forwardly out of the plane of the marginal portion thereof and areadapted to overlap the upper leg portions of the' plate 3i. The plate 3|and hood 32 thus constitute adjustable means for effectively sealing therelatively small aperture in the wall of the furnace hood through whichthe pan I4 has been inserted, regardless of the particular slope of thiswall of the furnace hood.

An overflow pipe and rigid supporting brace 4| is sucured in anysuitable manner to the rear.

end plate 22 of the pan M to provide a leak-proof joint therebetween.and is of sui'licient length to extend outwardly through and beyond thewall of the furnace dome. A plate 63 is adapted to be secured in anysuitable manner to the outer surface of the wall of the furnace domethrough which the pipe 4| extends. An adjustable cover plate 46 isslidably mounted upon the overflow pipe 4|, and is adapted to beresiliently held against the outer surface of the plate 43 by a spring41 surrounding the pipe 4| and retained at its outer end by anadjustable collar 4.. The plate 46 is provided with an inwardlyextending, annular flange (not shown) surrounding the pipe 4| and insliding engagement therewith which is adapted to engage a selected oneof suitable enlarged portions of a slot provided in the plate 43. Withthis arrangement, sliding of the plate 46 outwardly on the pipe 4|relative to the plate 43 and against the tension of the spring 41 willper-' mit vertical movement of the pipe 4| relative to the furnace dome.The pipe 4| will be retained in any one of a plurality of selectivepositions by the engagement of the flange on the plate 46 with one ofthe enlarged portions of the slot in the plate 43, the spring 41functioning to resiliently retain the plate 46 in contact with the plate43.

It will thus be seen that the water pan l4 may be readily mounted withinthe dome of a hot air furnace of any particular construction theadjustable bonnet plates 3|, 82 and the adjustable cover plates 43, 46compensating for variations in slope of the side walls of the furnacedome. The pan l4 having been inserted in the furnace evaporation pan |4.By loosening the unions '1, the vertical position of the unit I! may bevaried .as desired relative to the pan |4. Subsequent tightening of theunionsil will then insure the to the evaporation pan H are shown inFigs. 1

and 2, respectively. Since the unit It is in direct communication withthe pan l4, the water dome, the wings 29 are swung to their outward oroperative position, as shown in the drawing. The rising warm aircurrents within the furnace will then be guided by these wings 29 overand into contact with the surface of the water in the evaporation pan|4.

scribed, the vertical position of the rear end of By adjusting thevertical position of the pipe 4| in the manner-above delevel in theoutlet chamber therein will be the same as that obtaining in the pan I4.The float valve provided in the unit I! will thus function toautomatically maintain the water within the pan l4 at a substantiallyconstant level. This water level may be selectively adjusted to anydesired point'by varying the vertical position of the unit l5 relativetothe pan l4.

The adjustable connections between the unit l5 and pan l4 may also beemployed to compensate for variations in the pressure of the watersupplied to the unit l5 by the pipe Hi. This feature is of materialimportance because the water pressure in various localitie may varybetween relatively wide limits. When a low water pressure obtains, thereaction of the float valve within the feeder unit IE will be relativelyrapid in comparison to the rate of flow of water therethrough, so thatthe resulting water level in the pan M will be substantially below thatnormally obtaining with a higher water pressure and with the unit l5being mounted in the same position relative to the pan l4. Conversely,with the unit II and the pan l4 mounted in the same relative positions,a higher pressure of the water supplied by the pipe IE will result in aslower reacthe pan |4 may be selectively changed to=vary the evaporationsurface area of the water in the pan. The construction and operation ofthe parts above enumerated are more patricularly described in my priorpatent referred to hereinbefore, wherein the same reference numeralsindicate identical parts to those hereinbefore described.

.The automatic water feeding unit I5 is substantiall'y identical ininternal construction to that disclosed in my U. S. Letters Patent No.2,079,098, issued May 4, 1937, and is provided with inlet and outletcompartments therein with a float controlled valve communicatingtherebetween. A supply tube |6 having a coil portion to lend verticalflexibility thereto is connected at its lower end in any suitablem'anner to the upper end of the unit Hi to communicate with the inletcompartment therein, and is connected at its upper end in any desiredmanner to a suitable water supply. The main casing of the unit I! isprovided with a suitable vent hole 6| communicating with the outletchamber therein. At its lower end. the unit I5 is provided with a pipeor L-connection 62 which is secured thereto in any suitable manner atits upper end and communicates with the outlet chamber therein. Thelower end of the pipe 62 is rigidly connected by a "adjustably mountedupon and supported by the tion of the float valve in the feeder unit Iirelative to the rate of flow of water therethrough and a relativelyhigher water level in the pan |4. Consequently, by properly adjustingthe connections 81, 68. the feeder unit I5 may be so positioned relativeto the evaporation pan H as to maintain the water level in the lattersubstantially constant, regardless of the particular water pressureobtaining in the supply pipe I.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description, and will be apparentthat various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the formhereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim: I

1. An automatic humidifier comprising a water evaporation pan havinginlet means in the lower portion thereof, a vertically movable supplyconduit connected to a source of water supply, and adjustable means forselectively maintaining the level of the water in said pan, comprising afloat valve mounted laterally of said pan, said valve having a casingforming a float chamber, an inlet end connected to said conduit and anoutlet end, a rigid tube intermediate said valve and said pan, and pivotjoint means connecting the ends of said tube with said outlet end ofsaid valve and said inlet means of said pan whereby to allowsubstantial1y vertical adjustment of said float chamber relative to saidpan for altering the height of the water level in said pan.

. 2. An automatic humidifier comprising .water evaporation pan havinginlet means in the lower portion thereof, a vertically movable supplyconduit connected to a source of water supply, and adjustable means forselectively maintaining the level of. the water in said pan, comprisinga float valve mounted laterally of said pan, said valve having a casingforming a float chamber, an inlet end connected to said conduit and anoutlet end, a rigid tube intermediate said valve and said pan, and pivotjoint means connecting the ends of said tube with said outlet end ofsaid valve and said inlet means of said pan whereby to allowsubstantially vertical adjustment of said float chamber relative to saidpan for altering the height of the water level in said pan, said inletmeans including a pipe rigidly supported on said pan and having one endin communication with the interior of said pan,

the, other end of said pipe extending substantially horizontally, theoutlet end of said float valve including asecon-d pipe having one endrigidly amxed to said casing and communicating with said float chamber,the other end of said second pipe extending substantially parallel withsaid other end of the first-mentioned pipe, said tube beingsubstantially U-shaped in plan view, the ends of said tube beingrotatively engaged, respectively, with said other ends of said pipes,and lock-nut means engaging the ends of said pipes and tubes,respectively, for selectively holding the same in adjusted position.

WILLIAM J. WOOLLEY.

